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Retired Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee probably won’t get the $190,000 office
renovation that was detailed in a university plan, officials say.

The chairman of the university’s trustees, Robert H. Schottenstein, said on Wednesday that Ohio
State instead will try to find Gee a suitable existing office where he can work in his new roles as
president emeritus and a tenured law professor.

A document on the university’s online database of construction projects calls for renovating two
rooms in Page Hall to create office space for the former president. It also includes a date to
begin construction and a completion date of Sept. 20. The document, titled “Page — Suite 150
renovation,” also lists a project manager and others working on the plan and says the project
status is “emerging/funded.”

News media, including
The Dispatch, have reported since July 10 that Ohio State would renovate the offices for
Gee, but officials began saying this week that the project is just a proposal.

OSU trustees would have to approve such a renovation, Schottenstein told reporters before a
meeting of the committee searching for a successor to Gee.

Gee, 69, retired on July 1 and has agreed to a five-year, $5.8 million retirement package naming
him a law professor and president emeritus.

Along with teaching, he is to research, write and speak about education and continue raising
money for Ohio State.

The committee to find a new president at Ohio State has been meeting over the past two weeks but
has not hired a search firm. A university spokesman said the group plans to interview
representatives of several companies before choosing one.